chicago police were viciously beating protesters outside. what the investigative commission called the police riot. this book, playing with fire, tells you everything you need to know about it. if you're not interested, maybe you know someone who is interested, see how desperate i am, maybe a birthday is approaching, maybe the publisher can sell a few more of these things? maybe i can survive that conversation tomorrow where i'm going to promise them, once again, that i will finish the next book in a few months. this time, i'm going to mean it. the book is, playing with fire, available on paperback and audiobook, which is great for any of you that want to listen to my voice for more than an hour. tonight's last words are, playing with fire, and please, the 11th hour with stephanie ruhle starts now. tonight, feeling the heat, donald trump scrambles to reclaim the spotlight as the harris/walz battleground tour goes to the midwest and beyond.

the debate is on, 2024 candidates agreed to face off in prime time next month. pay to play, why some say buying trump stock is really buying access to his white house. the 11th hour gets underway on this thursday night. good evening once again, i'm stephanie ruhle. we are 89 days away from election and the trump campaign is racing to undercut its rivals. this afternoon, the former president try to call attention back from vp kamala harris with an hour plus news conference at his club in florida. the harris campaign has been driving the national conversation the last two weeks and the addition of minnesota governor tim walz to the ticket has helped to supercharge that momentum. the two continued to focus on midwest swing states this afternoon with a stop at a local uaw hall in wayne,

michigan. speaking today at mar-a-lago, trump was at times evasive, rambling, and incoherent, repeating many, many lies. the new york times reports that harris' rapid rise left trump unfocused and unsettled. recent polling could be a reason why. a new marquette university law school poll finds trump trailing harris by a whopping six points among likely voters. garrett haake was at the news conference in florida and he has more on the details. >> reporter: tonight, one debate showdown now set between former president donald trump and vice president harris for september 10th with trump announcing in news conference he has also accepted debate invitations from two more networks and challenged harris to commit as well. >> would like to do three debates, we think we should do three debates. >> reporter: cares telling shaquille brewster she is committed to one. >> reporter: we participate in all three? >> i have always been on record

looking forward to debate donald trump, we have a date september 10th, i heard that he finally committed to it and i look forward to it. >> reporter: trump criticizing the vice president for not holding news conferences or sit down interviews in the 18 days since president biden stepped aside. >> she should be doing interviews and she does not want to do interviews that the reason she does not want to, number one, her policies are so bad. >> reporter: harris and her running mate, tim walz, would like to do a joint interview in a few weeks. trump was asked about abortion rights, repeating his false claim that most americans wanted roe v. wade overturned when polls show the opposite. >> i think the abortion issue has been taken down many notches, i don't think it is a big factor anymore, really. we brought it back to the states, everybody wanted it in the states. >> reporter: today, harris and wall street in michigan meeting union voters, five-day battleground barn storm. >> when you know what to stay in for me not to fight for.

>> reporter: and you see nbc poll shows harris leading by two points, within the margin of error. the same slim lead he had over president biden. democratic enthusiasm has spiked, 81% of democrats now satisfied with harris as their nominee, compared to 33% satisfied with biden. >> reporter: what do you attribute her rising in the polls as a competitive race since she has taken over for biden? >> she is a woman, she represents certain groups of people. i will say this, when people find out about her, i think she will be much less. >> something else we have been noticing about the 2024 race is how different these campaigns feel and how they sound. >> we are joyful warriors. joyful warriors. because we know that while fighting for a brighter future may be hard work, hard work is good work. hard work is good work

>> we have a lot of bad things coming up and are very close to a world war in my opinion. >> we just want fairness, we want dignity for all people. >> this horrible culture that is developing, a culture of no common sense, everybody will be forced to buy electric car, which they don't want to do because they don't want that. >> we have work to do right now, right now, 89 days two kamala harris the next president of the united states. >> with that, let's get smart with the help of our leadoff panel, washington correspondent . new york times chief white house correspondent, peter baker, pulitzer prize-winning washington post investigative reporter, carol. peter and carol have written books on track and seen them up close and personal. peter, i turn to you first, former trump white house press secretary stephanie grisham

called what went down at mar-a- lago today a sign that trump is panicking. this woman knows him very well, you do too. what do you think? >> reporter: he is clearly at this point flailing for messages, a lot of things you heard today are the golden oldies, he does not have anything new to say, it is his old shtick, repeating lines from his old rallies and he seems not to understand exactly how to counter the enthusiasm that kamala harris developed. clearly, her big crowd sizes, we heard him talk about that, she only has 1000, 1200, 1500, that is clearly not true. the rallies yesterday were 15,000, 12,000. their size is similar to the rallies trump had all these years, that was to his advantage. he does not like the idea of sharing the stage with anybody and i think he is a little uncertain about how to proceed at this point. >> carol, our motto here is the truth matters but only few hear

it. i want to look at a few of the lies donald trump told today. he claimed that vp harris supports arms embargo to israel. that is categorically false. democrats support abortion after birth, absolutely not true . and the vast majority of the country supports him. for fact say, donald trump never won the popular vote or the approval of most americans while president. your paper found false claims while he was in office, it is exhausting for all of us but it is our job to fact check him. he knows he is lying, his campaign knows he is lying, there is a reason he is doing it because you heard the sound bite before manny said, when people get to know who kamala harris is, what does the vp do with the fact you have donald trump pushing lies about who she is and what she supports? how do they combat that? because those people here

talking to, chances are, they are not watching you and me right now. >> i think there is something really interesting about two elements of your question, i would also echo something peter just smartly said about the golden oldies, he and i, at different times, went to visit with donald trump soon after he had left the presidency. he said a lot of the same things today at his press conference that struck me as so strange, to bring up again that the people who charged the capitol, basically broke into the iconic home of our democracy , were very pleasant people and it was all very peaceful. that was some of the alternate reality that trump was living in , in mar-a-lago in exile when he lost the election in 2020. the second part of your question, how do you combat the misleading and the myths -- mistruths that trump says every

day, kamala harris has chosen a vice presidential candidate who, like her, has that cut to the chase kind of messaging, which is, here is what we are, here is what we are doing. that self-definition, as opposed to, let's talk about donald trump, that self-definition is resonating. we care about kids who go to school and aren't hungry, what monsters are we, said, tim walz. we are trying to make sure there's equity and people get paid well and fairly for their time and work and we are trying to ensure that people have good healthcare and good healthcare coverage. this kind of self-definition and turning away from trump's sort of self referential description of america is seeming to have a lot of bounce. i don't know that you will ever change the minds of people that

agree with donald trump so much that they ignore the facts in front of their faces. it is not true that most americans are perfectly happy that roe v. wade was overturned. that has really energized a lot of young voters and female voters. and mom voters all over the country, including swing states. i think this point is of the harris/walz campaign, we will say what we are rather than fight donald trump in his large lobby in mar-a-lago. >> you have been on the campaign trail with her, how would you categorize how vp harris is countering? >> doing a little bit of defining herself, saying that i have a vision for america that is inclusive, that will really be something that will better

the lives of all people, especially middle-class americans and she is talking about the things that she wants to accomplish and tim walz, highlighting the fact in minnesota that he codified roe v. wade, he also passed the child tax credit, she talked a lot about what they want to do. there is also very clear message they are also attacking republicans, in particular, former president donald trump and j.d. vance, the fact she thinks he is a fraudster, a cheat, abuser women, leaning on the idea she is a prosecutor and he is a criminal, i think she is doing both things. the other thing the harris campaign is doing is not waiting to respond to former president donald trump, they are trying, as best as they can, i think, in real time to counter the things that he is saying quickly. today, talking about her and attacking her, she was at the uaw in michigan, able to quickly say, within an hour or

two hours, i still want to debate him, i'm open to other debates after we get through the abc debate, in other words, hinting she does not want to do the fox news debate his talking about on september 4th. she might be open to the nbc debate. a lot of things they're trying to do, it is a dual track, they are trying to define and you definitely don't want these republicans in office. >> is also coming her barely competent, she is unwilling to do any interviews. garrett haake moment in was saying that the campaign absolutely has plans. they have only been in this position the last 11 days, what can you tell us, yamiche ? >> i talked to a number of aides this morning, especially one this morning, that person was close to the thinking of the media engagement for vice president harris, in touch with her daily and directly, her and tim walz want to do a joint interview in the next few weeks,

it might be before the democratic national convention, this person said that it was not likely going to be before the dnc, likely after. it is still a possibility. they also want to do not just national media and local media, traditional media, they want to be in charge and talk to people in social media as influencers on places like tiktok and snapchatted. the things i'm hearing, a lot of stuff going on the last two weeks. first, she had to pick a running mate and go out and to find herself on the campaign trail. once they were together this week, her and tim walz have been on the road for the most part going through the battleground tour. they have been saying, give us a little bit of time while we get our things together and we will figure it out. talking to harris allies, the idea they want to figure out exactly what they want to say on policy, how to differentiate themselves from president biden, how to stay the same and stick to some of the steps the administration, a lot of prep

work needs to go before she can do a substantive sit down interview. my sense is they will do that, they understand the need and pressure to do that quickly. she did take questions from reporters, shaquille brewster was there, also other reporters traveling with her so she took questions later on as well. it tells you they are engaging in the media. the big thing is, yes, we as reporters want to see substantive interview and have her take more questions. >> let's talk about the debate or debates plural, potentially, donald trump has reversed himself and agreed to debate kamala harris on abc. now he is saying that he wants more debates in the future. peter, do you buy this? does donald trump realize he is a convicted criminal who will be going up against a seasoned prosecutor? it is not like she folded when she was up against mike pence in 2020 or running for president, one of the strongest parts of her campaign was when she was on the debate stage,

that was her highlight. >> reporter: the one that wants to debate is trailing. needs to find some weight to reorient or recalibrate their campaign to change the momentum, change the conversation. i think that is why you saw today suddenly eager to have the debates, the number of polls have shown she has surged. the one shown earlier from cnbc showing she cut his lead to two points. another one from marquette university law school showing she has a six point lead. it depends on the pole, clearly she has cut away the lead that he had a biden and that is something that affected his calculations here. he is thinking he wants to get on the stage with her, i think he enjoys the attention, he likes to be on the stage. he will not get another opportunity at a national audience without a debate

because she has a four night convention coming up, his four neck convention is over, he was focused on joe biden, therefore kind of meaningless at this point. the only chance he has left to have that big national audience with tens of millions of people in a single setting is a national debate. >> that convention could be a star-spangled spectacular with the mojo that she's got right now. the cook little report shifted three key swing states, arizona, nevada, and georgia, toward vp harris these states leaned republican a few weeks ago. carol, what is your take? she has only been campaigning two weeks but you said to a moment ago that was interesting, it is not like probable voters are changing their minds, those who are sunk in our changing their minds, it is about inspiring new voters, disconnected voters. >> i think there is something that yamiche and peter know so much better than i do, i will lean on their amazing reporting

over the course of this, which is, what you have seen the moment joe biden dropped out of the race and harris was anointed, and began essentially walking quite boldly across a series of stages with beaming smile and her, i am going to do this, energy. what you also saw where young people who have basically tuned out of this campaign for its entirety, sort of wake up. it wasn't necessarily the young people pumped for kamala harris and they did not say before biden dropped out of the race, i wish kamala was the candidate. it was not that unique experience, what it was, oh my gosh, we no longer have an 80 something plus individual who is kind of struggling to follow the teleprompter at times and feels like a time from another generation, we have somebody

close to our generation here, who is a woman, who represents as donald trump says, many different groups, which he meant as a kind of put-down. a lot of people around the country view that as wonderful energy and excitement that the party is embracing something new. i think that the young people who have now tuned into this race, in the way that they carried obama in 2002, this is a very different race now. >> i'm out of time, carol, before i let you guys go, i want to ask about georgia. there is news about georgia's election board. it change the state's election rules this week a couple days after donald trump praised the board members at his rally in atlanta. what is going on, why is donald trump so focused? i'm sorry and asking with such little time left but i've got

to know . >> i will be quick, migrate collie, amy gardner, who owned georgia ever since the call that donald trump made to brad raffensperger, the secretary of state, can you find me 11,000 something votes, pressuring him before the actual certification of the votes to deliver more in his favor, a state that he lost. georgia has been an obsession of donald trump's. the rally he has done and parading he has done at the state to try to get them to change the board of election roles for the kind of votes that could refuse to accept or void, is really worrisome around the country to a lot of the democratic party elite, who are seen this state as a harbinger of other things that could happen in other states and that is creating rules such that if republican-led election boards don't like that harris won, they may find it easier to reject her victory in their state. that is a huge deal.

>> is a huge deal and we are going to cover every single step of it. carol, yamiche, peter, thank you for starting us off. when we return, donald trump keeps saying he has nothing to do with project 2025. here is the problem, his policies sound just like the ones are pretty close to it that are in in 2025. later, republican's are attacking governor walz's military record saying he retired to avoid deployment in iraq. the "facts" don't add up. we dive into the truth when the 11th hour continues.

they started as dreamers. but today, they're stars.

follow every moment of team usa on the network that brings you legendary speed and reliability: xfinity mobile. with xfinity mobile, you'll have the most powerful mobile wifi network with you on the go with exclusive access to speeds up to a gig in millions of locations nationwide. and right now, xfinity internet customers can buy one unlimited line and get one free for a year. get the fastest connection to paris with xfinity.

i think what president trump said is that project 22 five does not represent the agenda of the trump campaign and it doesn't, donald trump represents the agenda of the trump campaign. he is a very smart guy, a lot of double policies, he speaks for himself >> the trump campaign is desperate to distance the former president from project 2025 and his running mate has said, donald trump speaks for himself. here is what trump, himself, said at his press conference today. the issue of abortion access. >> reporter: would you direct your fda, for example, to revoke access to mifepristone? >> do things that would supplement, absolutely. those things are pretty open and humane but you have to have a vote. all i want to do is give

everybody a vote. the votes are taking place right now as we speak. there are many things on a humane basis you can do outside of that. >> here is what project 2025 has proposed on this, quote, the food and drug administration is ethically and legally obliged to revisit and withdraw its initial approval of abortion drugs like mifepristone. let's discuss this and more with former democratic senator bob torricelli of new jersey and bob miller, podcast and former communications director for republican jeb bush. it has been wildly report it donald trump was briefed by that heritage foundation president on 2025, he was on a flight with the president of 2025, he is very closely aligned with the heritage foundation so how does the campaign think you can keep saying, donald trump did not know anything about it? it is not true. >> yeah, one of the guys that

is the main player was called the deputy president in the last year of the presidency and behind a lot of staffing moves that prepared them for january 6th, moving people aside and getting more cronies in. you have j.d. vance, who wrote the forward to the book for john roberts, ahead of the third pitch foundation in project 2025, the forward of the book written by j.d. vance, not a blurb. these guys are tied to it, the key point here, that they are aligned, it is kind of true donald trump speaks for himself when donald trump does not dig deep into policy and word vomits, et cetera. the people that would work in second trump administration are the people working on project 2025. they are the ones that will stuff the agencies and that is the scariest part about project 2025. if donald trump actually wanted to distance himself from project 2025, he will say i'm

not going to hire a single person involved with this project. he is not going to do that because those of the loyalists he will want and need in the next administration. that really is, i think the fact that reveals how absurd it is they are trying to distance from it. >> what is so stunning as the contents of project 2025 were so offensive, so offputting to voters, why on earth would they publish this thing? now they have so are democrats doing the right thing hammering this and trying to educate people with what is actually in it? >> i have seen this so many times in campaigns, god help you from your own allies, they will cause you problems every time. it is the difference between ideologues in politcal campaign and practical politicians trying to win elections and you can see that classic conflict.

i'm not sure at the end this brings political mileage to the harris campaign. the only harbinger of what you campaign in is the candidate themselves. people can have fun with this, i'm not sure at the end of the day it has electoral value. in the congress, i would be watching for people who are authors of these statements as they seek to populate another trump administration, if it happens. that i would do, the rest of it, i'm not sure has political value over time. >> let's talk about kamala harris' campaign, senator, i think it is fair to say the last time you and i spoke, you were worried about president biden's chances, you were concerned america was forgetting what it was like to have donald trump as a president. now we can see who donald trump is, we are reminded with press conferences like the one we got today and we have a new candidate in vp harris, how are you feeling now? >> i feel the political world

is spinning so fast, it is hard . donald trump today was clearly frustrated, i understand that, two weeks ago he would have been measuring the drapes of the white house, he was headed for a significant victory, now he is in a race, a real race and a close race. i would not yet, as a democrat, come to the view, however, there is an advantage in this campaign. the vice president has had 11 days of extraordinary press, the rollout has been near-perfect, they had a plan for six months, it could not of gone better, that brought her even in the campaign. i think we need to remind ourselves the issues that brought donald trump to have a significant advantage over president biden, before the debate, he was winning before the debate, those issues are

still there. the vice president has to get past the hemorrhaging situation that the border, the mismanagement of it, the economic circumstances, particularly the feeling of responsibility for inflation and what is a rapidly deteriorating international situation. i know that joe biden feels great with pride and how he managed international affairs, from the views of most analysts, including american voters, at the moment, it does not look very good. >> what about all the new voters, young voters, those who are considered double haters months ago, who were not inspired or excited about voting for joe biden or donald trump, we are suddenly seeing this huge surge of new voters, people registering to vote, people saying, yes, i have something to get behind. people that were not even think about four months ago. >> for that, talking about this

race with very different context. she is going to expand the base of the party and bring entirely new people in to vote. i'm reminded, after hillary lost , i spoke with her, she asked me when i thought they were in trouble, i was driving from a place where i spent summers in maine, i noticed a couple hours as i came from rural maine, people going up to their mailboxes with crayons and paper, writing trump and mailing it to a tree. in 20 years of running for federal office, i would like to believe it were not so, i don't think anybody walked to a mailbox, wrote my name on a piece of paper and nailed it to a tree. yes, the vice president is in the race and has a chance to win because she will broaden the base, with all the voters that you discussed. on the other hand, there is also an enormous pool of very

disaffected people out there, rural and otherwise, who have made donald trump president before, against all odds. i think that base may equally expand. this is a real race. >> we should remind the audience though, even in that first election, more americans voted for hillary clinton and of course, joe biden won the next election, tim, do you want to respond to bob's thoughts? >> i love it reality check, i'm honored to be on with him, i'm a little more bullish, i'm usually the rain clouds, this is a great spot for me. i think there's a lot of energy right now behind kamala and i think she is bringing new people into the process. we have seen, i think it was something like 30% of democrats were excited to vote before the debate. since kamala ascended to the top of the ticket, that number is closer to 90, the excitement gap between the two candidates

is completely narrowed. i don't think she has a slam dunk race ahead of her but i think she is expanding the electorate. i don't think donald trump is, i guess i disagree with that. i don't know many people will turn out this time. i think if you look at the groups that you mentioned from one of your questions, to senator, the double haters, seeing so much fewer of those. unprecedented number of double haters all year, you look at the polls, those numbers are small, rfk's numbers are very small. this is trending to much more traditional race like what we saw in 2020, which president biden won narrowly. i think that is what kamala harris should be looking towards if she can continue with the momentum we have seen the first two weeks. >> as jim carrey once famously said, so you are saying,

there's a chance. it is great to have you back. thank you so much, senator tore sally and tim. when we come back, republicans race to define governor tim walz. our next guest has actually known the vp harris running mate for decades. he will set that record straight when the 11th hour continues. gre protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients or to a previous dose. an increased risk of guillain-barré syndrome was observed after getting shingrix. fainting can also happen. the most common side effects are pain, redness, and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach. ask your doctor or pharmacist about shingrix today.

but it's under siege from big out-of-state media companies and hedge funds. now, california legislators are considering a bill that could make things even worse by subsidizing national and global media corporations while reducing the web traffic local papers rely on. so tell lawmakers, support local journalism, not well connected media companies. oppose ab 886. paid for by ccia. it has only been two days, god, it feels like a lifetime, since minnesota government thomas was named as vice

president harris's running mate but republicans settled on two main attacks. they criticize his handling of the 2020 george floyd protests in minneapolis saying that he should have acted sooner to bring in the national guard. they are also going after his military record, including his decision to leave the national guard to run for office. j.d. vance called walz "shameful" for not going to iraq and accusing the stolen valor. in response, arizona center and retired navy captain, mark kelly, posted this, quote, to j.d. vance, did you forget with the marines talked -- talk about respect. thomas spent decades in uniform, you will deserve to be thanked for your service. do not become donald trump. let's bring tim martin, chairman of the democratic- farmer-labor party in minnesota and dnc vice chair. he is known governor walz for over 20 years. most of us met this man two weeks ago, you have been the party chair the last two years.

what do you make of the attacks against his military service? >> it is hogwash. the reality is, the spears from that trump campaign are old news, minnesota republicans pushed this very hard in 2022. you know why it did not go anywhere? the timeline directly contradicts their false narrative, his former unit did receive the alert orders two months after he retired. you don't have to take my word for it, some republicans who served with walz have gone on the record, even though they are not voting for him, these accusations about the timeline and his motivations are completely unfounded. they also made it clear that he was a good soldier, honorably discharged and his decision to retire after 24 years came before his unit received those orders. this is especially outrageous coming from donald trump, who is attacked our nation's veterans time after time and who got up bogus loans for

diagnosis to avoid serving in vietnam. tim walz served our country honorably, he was deployed overseas, he spent time away from his family, he came back, he retired to run for congress, he served 24 years and people should be honoring his service, not trying to disparage it. >> you saw firsthand how the governor handled the george floyd protests in 2020, at the time, donald trump called him on the phone, he was president at that time, to say that walz was doing a good job, what you make of the argument we are hearing now that he waited too long to send the national guard ? >> it is revisionist history, the reality is, governor walz, from the moment civil unrest broke out, he was working with law enforcement, both minneapolis and st. paul, and other jurisdictions to restore law and order. it took him, did not take him that long to call in the national guard to mobilize the largest mobilization of the national guard in our history since world war ii to actually restore law and order. tim walz will make sure, when

we were facing one of the worst crises our states faced in some time, he led us out of that, it would not have happened without his leadership during that critical time, working with local law enforcement and calling up the national guard. it is important to note during that time, donald trump sitting in the white house pouring gasoline on the fire, tweeting out, instead of trying to help our governor and local law enforcement, he was tweeting out encouraging people in minneapolis and st. paul to become vigilantes, take the law into their own hands, go out with their own guns and to shoot protesters. that is not leadership. i think governor walz showed what leadership was by working with local law enforcement and calling up the national guard to >> i don't want to sound sassy asking is, it is true that a few weeks ago, most people had never heard of tim walz, they had heard of gretchen whitmer, mark kelly, pete buttigieg. how did governor walz get on the harris campaign radar?

>> he was the head of the democratic governors association, while the american public may not have known who tim walz was, certainly people in the party and folks around the country knew who tim walz was. he served 12 years in congress from the first district of minnesota and serving his second term as governor of this state, he has a remarkable record of success, probably one of the most successful governors over the last several years in terms of pushing legislation that is improving people's lives. it is not an accident he was elected by his peers around the country to lead the democratic governors association. he traveled extensively throughout the country helping democrats up and down the ballot. i think that when you look at his record of success, helping to push legislation, improve people's lives, make a difference in minnesota and minnesotans' lives throughout the state, the mantra has been, how do we build estate for

everyone, no matter where you live or you love, whatever your background is, whatever your socioeconomic level is, he is a champion for everyone in our state. i'm glad that america is starting to see a little bit of what we have seen in minnesota, which is authentic, genuine leader that will lead for everyone in his state and now he gets to lead for everyone in this country. >> love him or hate him, 20 years ago when you met him, he was a schoolteacher and now he might be the next vice president of the united states of america. it is stunning. ken, thank you for joining us. when we come back, you know we have been keeping close tabs on donald trump's media stock, djt, it could lead to a level of corruption we've never seen before. if you're thinking of going to say, hold off. you need to watch this as the 11th hour continues.

to help keep you undetectable than dovato. detect this: leo learned that most hiv pills contain 3 or 4 medicines. dovato is as effective with just 2. if you have hepatitis b, don't stop dovato without talking to your doctor. don't take dovato if you're allergic to its ingredients or taking dofetilide. this can cause serious or life-threatening side effects. if you have a rash or allergic reaction symptoms, stop dovato and get medical help right away. serious or life-threatening lactic acid buildup and liver problems can occur. tell your doctor if you have kidney or liver problems, or if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or considering pregnancy. dovato may harm an unborn baby. most common side effects are headache, nausea, diarrhea, trouble sleeping, tiredness, and anxiety. detect this: you could stay undetectable with fewer medicines. ask your doctor about dovato. why do couples choose a sleep number smart bed? can it keep me warm when i'm cold? wait, no, i'm always hot. sleep number does that. you could stay undetectable with fewer medicines. during our biggest sale of the year, save 50% on the sleep number® limited edition smart bed.

shop now at a sleep number store near you.

if you are irregular 11th hour viewer, i hope that you are, you know we have been covering djt stock since before it hit the market in march. today it closed a little over 26 bucks a share, that is down more than 44% in the past few months, that is a lot. you know what else is a lot, the billions donald trump's stake is worth. we told you how overvalued the company is, it does not actually do anything, the business loses millions and

millions of dollars every quarter. what we have not talked about yet is how it could impact a second trump presidency. new york magazine, david friedlander writes, it would be unprecedented opportunity for corruption. david joins me now, contribute and editor for new york magazine. his piece is a must read. explain to us, the scale of corruption. >> it can be a little hard to fathom, frankly. this is going to be away for folks to put money into donald trump's pocket. we won't always know who is doing it. it could be foreign oligarchs, it could be corporate ceos, it could be anybody that wants anything from the federal government, it could be the federal government itself. in many ways, the capacity for corruption is much deeper than it would be, even with the hotel that he operated in washington, d.c. for his first term for the

club that he runs in florida. >> that is the thing, on one level, why should we be surprised? when he was president, we saw the trump international hotel, the chinese government, every lobbying group holding events at trump properties. the u.s. secret service spending an enormous amount of money at all of his properties. this is trump's m.o. when you see the forming of djt, his own sons walking in saying, we want a cut. donald trump's body man, his pr guys wanting a piece of this. suddenly, this is a-okay, trump thinks no problem, people are happy to buy the stock and play along? >> they seem to be, i think you touched on it, under discussed and under recorded reported, learning about the micro- economy of trump world where all of these people around him actually offer themselves as consultants to anybody that wants something from donald trump, often for thousands or tens of thousands of dollars a

month, "consultants." then his children come in and want a stake. everybody has a handout for whatever entity or enterprise donald trump is engaged in. >> this seems egregious, seems like it should be illegal. however, talk to us about the impact of recent supreme court decisions in this instance because it seems like they are looking to make this easier for him. >> yeah, i think it is from my understanding, less of a clear- cut violation than the hotel was. that was a little bit clearer, it will be very hard to stop anybody that wanted to influence a president, if he is the new president. from buying the stock, you are sort of buying a stock from a stockbroker on the exchange or whatever, it is not the money directly then goes to donald trump. it is a little step removed. i think it is more of a gray area. of course, this supreme

court has not shown any inclination to curb any of this kind of thing. i think it will be like the wild west out here. >> the wild west out here or we are going to turn into mini russia with little oligarchs planted around trump. talk to us in the reporting, it is extensive and extraordinary reporting, one of the strangest most unusual things, the wows that you learned digging into djt, his company stock, the billions that he has? >> i think one thing, to be clear, he is seemingly going to get, regardless of what happens, fabulously wealthy on this. he will probably make up all of the money that he owes in civil fines. once he eventually sells the shares, he will probably do after the election, win or lose. it is one thing folks should be aware of to

>> he is going to become fabulously wealthy no matter what happens. what do you think is going to happen come september when he can dump this thing? >> i think the likeliest thing if he does not dump it. i think this stock would crater a little bit should he do that he can sort of, it is a cash cow for him, it will be for the foreseeable future. even though, as you say, there is no real business here, i think he will hold onto it until after the presidential election, then we have to see, if he is in the oval office, he will hang onto it. he did not divest beforehand from any of his holdings so i don't see why he would now. >> there is no real business here yet scores of people have bought up this stock. people at home watching, think about it, why are they buying it, what do they want? david, thank you and for you at home, i'm going to leave you on that note to think about tonight.

for now, i wish you a very good night and i will sign off. from all of our colleagues across the networks of nbc news, thanks for staying up with me. i will see you again tomorrow. why do couples choose a sleep number smart bed? i need help with her snoring. sleep number does that. thank you. during our biggest sale of the year, save 50% on the sleep number® limited edition smart bed. shop now at a sleep number store near you.

tonight on